Ryker Schreave, Crown Prince of Illea
Ryker walked down the hallway toward the Queen's office. He knocked on the door, and without waiting for an answer, walked into her office.
"Hello, Darling. What do you need?" She asked me, a concerned look on her face. He sat down on the seat across from her.
Ryker took a second to think over the sheer madness of what he was about to propose. It wasn't that he wasn't committed to his country, but, he just preferred to not have to worry about what the country thought. This, however, would quite literally be asking them for their opinions on everything.
"I'm just going to say it, Mom. I think that it's time for me to have a selection. His mother gave him a shocked look. "I know it's out of the blue Mom but I've been thinking a lot lately and think it's a good idea." Ryker said. His mother folded her hands neatly upon the desk. Plus, Ryker thought, the ladies would be all over him. He was after all, voted Illea's most attractive bachelor by multiple magazines.
"Why do you think it's a good idea?" She asked. He shrugged. His mother didn't particularly need to know that he was felt guilty for having snuck out and partied almost everyday last month. This was his way of trying to make it up to the country.
"It's an opportunity for me to find a wife. And it follows the tradition." he added. The Queen seemed to consider it for a minute.
"Sure. I mean, fine. We'll add it to the Report tonight, but you have to tell your siblings." She said. His stomach sank. His siblings would not like this. They were a closed off royal family, and they didn't like new people. He sighed and sat up. He walked around the desk to give his mother a kiss on the cheek, and she waved him goodbye, reminding him one more time that he was to tell his siblings before the report.
"Yeah, yeah." He responded as he walked away, groaning as the door closed. That had been the easy part. Now came the hard part.
XXX
Ryker knocked on his sister's door, hoping that she would answer. Aisiri was known for blasting music through headphones so loudly that she could hear no one and nothing. Ryker wasn't really in the mood to make the guards knock her door down again to make sure that she was still alive. Really, it was getting old.
Luckily, Aisiri kicked the door open for him, not saying a word as she walked back and threw herself onto her bed. His brother, Charlie sat right across from her. Ryker sighed in apprehension.
"Good. You're both here. I need to talk to you." Was all Ryker said, dreading the upcoming conversation.
"What do you want, Ryker? First, Charlotte here comes in to torture me, and now you." Charlie threw a pillow at Aisiri. "Hey, you brat!"
"Aisiri, you know that he doesn't like being called that." Aisiri rolled her eyes, putting her earbuds back in. Ryker reached over and yanked it out, receiving a protesting shout from her in return. "And, I'm here to tell you that I'm holding a Selection. Mother and Father will be announcing it over the report tonight." Aisiri's mouth dropped, her reaction just as dramatic as he had expected. Charlie just sat there, silent.
"How can you do this, Ryker? It's always been the five of us!" Aisiri paused to consider, "Well six with Aunt Liri, and now you want to add 35 more girls?" Aisiri looked at him, bewildered, as if she could change his mind simply by glaring.
"Charlie?" Ryker asked, waiting for him to protest. Charlie stared shyly at the ground before responding.
"Yeah. Whatever." Ryker could tell something was wrong, but he just couldn't seem to bring himself to dig into it. It's not like he was known for being a good brother so he didn't have to worry about upholding a "reputation". Ryker frowned, wanting to know what was bothering Charlie. Ryker decided against asking him, if he had wanted Ryker to know, he would have said something! Ryker sighed.
"We better get ready for the Report tonight."
Amaris Abella Amulet, Author ~ Tis I, The Most Frenchiest Fry
Amaris walked into her small apartment.
"Anyone home?" She called. Silence. She sighed and shut the door behind her, locking it. Her dog and her roommates dogs ran over to her, barking. Amaris greeted each of them before walking over to the small kitchen to get some water. It looked like since her three roommates weren't here, she was going to have to cook dinner tonight. About the only thing Amaris knew how to cook was pasta. She grabbed some noodles from the almost bare cabinets.
"Simon needs to go shopping." She muttered, continuing on the pasta. She had only made pasta once before, but even that was with one of her little brothers, and he's a good cook. Amaris was not. While the water was boiling, Amaris went to the bathroom, all the dogs following her.
"You can't come in, dogos." She said, laughing.
When she walked out of the bathroom, Amaris heard something.
"Who's there?" She called out into the seemingly empty apartment. Silence. Amaris grabbed one of the numerous bats she and her friends had hidden around the apartment. It wasn't in the best part of town, and one never knew. All Amaris knew was that someone was in her apartment.
Could it be? No. She couldn't think like that. It was just fear and anxiety, wasn't it?
As she passed one of her roommates' bedroom, looking for the culprit, something jumped out at her.
Amaris screamed and jumped a mile high, scared out of her mind. She dropped the bat. She quietly congratulated herself on her clumsiness.
"It's okay, it's just me!" One of her best friends, Simon, said while grabbing her shoulders and pulling her towards him.
"Simon, you can not scare me like that!" Amaris said, laughing breathlessly, as her heart pounded. "I had a bat! You could have been hurt, Simon!" Simon laughed again.
"I'll keep that in mind for next time I try to scare you." He said. Amaris glared at him.
"This isn't a joke!" She insisted. He rolled his eyes. "How did you even get in here without the dogs barking like crazy?"He grinned impishly.
"I'm not telling you." He said. Amaris rolled her eyes.
"I'm home!" One of her other roommates, Angel, called as she came through the door.
"Angel, you will never believe what Simon did!" She said proceeding to tell Angel the story, and Angel laughed.
"Where were you before you got home, anyways?" She asked.
"I went for a run, see?" I asked, showing her my outfit of leggings and an athletic top.
She nodded her understanding as Amaris' final roommate, Camille, came in the apartment and ran to the couch.
"The Report's starting! Sh!" She ordered, and we all sat down. Amaris took a few minutes to gather the pasta she had made into bowls for everyone.
Camille and Angel took the one big couch, causing Simon and Amaris to squish onto the slightly smaller one.
XXX
"I am not signing up for the Selection." Camille said right after Prince Ryker announced it.
"Me neither." Angel added. Angel and Camille didn't date. Neither did Amaris, for that matter.
"I'm not entering. Although the prince would totally love me." She joked, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Simon snorted and she glared at him.
"He would." Amaris said defensively. Simon smiled at her.
"Oh really? Then I dare you to sign up." He said, smirking. Amaris' eyes widened.
"It's not like I would get Selected anyway, so there's no point in signing up." She tried backtracking.
"If you're not going to be Selected, you can sign up." He said. "I dare you to." Simon repeated. He knew that her one weak point was her inability to pass up a dare.
"Fine." She said, sighing. Only Simon could get her to do something she didn't want to do.
Isabella Starks, National Sailor ~ The Cruel Pringle
Bella tasted the salt upon her lips as she floated above the sea, the waves rocking her boat back and forth. She could feel the firm rope of the main sheet in her hands, the bright white sail above her head. She pushed the tiller away from her veering the boat to her left.
The warm sea breeze caressed her face as she smiled at the perfect winds the day had brought to her. Let's run some drills. She signed to the other boats. Her teammates signed back their approval and they began running the drills.
Almost an hour later, the sun had set beyond the horizon, leaving Bella with a sense of longing for the longer summer days. Alex snuck up behind her, picking Bella up and throwing her over his shoulder.
"Alex! Put me down." The two had known one another since they were babies and were thick as thieves, but that didn't stop him from annoying her from time to time. He obliged her and put her down gently. Bella jokingly petted him on the head and ran up to the small shack on the beach.
"What do you say we go night surfing?" Alex asked. Bella twisted her curly hair to get the water out and put it in a bun, slipping on her overalls over her white bikini, all the while considering his question.
"Sorry, Alex. You know I can't. Friday night dinners with the parental unit. You're welcome to join." Alex sighed, giving her his best smile as he tried to beg her to skip.
"I skipped last week, Alex." She glanced at the watch on her wrist. "And I'm going to be late if I don't leave now." Bella gave him a hug and began running once more in the opposite direction, towards her house.
XXX
Bella was showered and dressed in her comfiest clothing by the time her mother called her down for dinner, her long, curly hair still hopelessly tangled.
Bella jumped over the last 3 bottom steps running over to her dog, who jumped on her the second he saw her. Bear, the dog, was taller than Bella when he stood on his hind paws, and was so fluffy that she often confused him with a blanket. Bella grabbed his front paws, pretending to waltz with the dog.
"Bella! Leave poor Bear alone." Bella laughed, setting her dog down, giving him a scratch on the belly. "Edward, dinner!" Her mother called down Bella's brother, who was still grumpily wearing his headphones.
"Mom! Stop calling dinner in the middle of my games."
"How about you stop playing games during your mom's dinners." Their dad walked in the door, having just gotten home from work. He hugged his children and they all sat down to eat.
"One of these days. You two will have to stop leeching off me and your mother. You're 19 and 23." Their dad laughed at his own joke, causing the entire family to burst out into laughter as well.
XXX
Bella felt like her stomach was about to explode, her mom's cooking so delicious that when one started eating it, they always finished, no matter how full they were. Bella sat upstairs in her room, the report playing dully in the background.
"Hey, Elias." As always, the goldfish refused to respond, simply continuing to swim around the bowl. Bella sprinkled in a few flakes of fish food before jumping into bed.
Prince Ryker had announced his selection approximately 8 minutes ago on the report, and Bella had found out that she was eligible. She considered applying and weighed it versus not applying. Both seemed like reasonable options, but how could Bella skip out on this opportunity. The Illean palace was only a 15 minute car drive from her house, and the odds of her getting selected were slim.
So, Bella filled out the form.
Fawn Washington, Scientist ~ La Rosa
"Another long day at the lab." Fawn sighed as she walked into her house.
"Hello? Is anyone home?" She called as she peeled off her shoes. Just then her cat, Lucky, came running towards her. "Hey, Lucky, is mom home yet?" She asked as she picked him up. Fawn looked at my phone checking the time. It was only three. Mom wouldn't be home until five-thirtyish. Well, she might as well go help Dad, Andrew, and Lincoln, in the shop for a few hours. She went upstairs to quickly change into jeans, a sweatshirt, and an old pair of boots.
When she reached the shop she saw her dad finishing talking to one of their local customer who brought his tractor to be worked on.
"Hey, Dad, how are you today?" She asked as she hugged him.
"I'm good, sweetheart. How was work at the lab?"
"Same as always except for the fact that my partner and I almost got sent to the hospital because of our new lab tech." She said as we walked. Her dad dropped what he had been working on and walked over to her.
"What?" Her dad shouted as he tried to see if Fawn was hurt anywhere.
"It was nothing horrible. The lab tech just dropped the vial of the disease that we were trying to find a cure for. Luckily, thanks to our gear, we were safe." Fawn said trying to calm him down.
"I'm going to see what Lincoln is up too and see if Andrew can help me cut some metal." She ran away from him before he could baby her some more and set out to find Lincoln. She figured the best place to search for him would be the office.
XXX
"Hey, Lincoln, what are you drawing?" She asked, glancing over his shoulder towards the book on the desk.
"Oh, hey, Fawna. Just sketching some ideas for Mom's birthday present." Lincoln said, as he showed her his sketchbook. The sketch was of a horse which he would cut out with the plasma cutter.
"That looks awesome. I'm going to see if Andrew can help me with my gift to Mom."
"Ooh, what are you making her?"
"I'm making her a couple of horseshoe flowers." She stated. The fact that their Mom had a love for horses was a well-known fact. She showed him the horseshoes in her hand.
"Where did you get the shoes at?" Lincoln asked.
"Melody's stepdad. He's a farrier, so he let me have them," Fawn responded as she went to find Andrew. She and her brothers and had always been close, despite their age difference of twelve years.
Fawn found Andrew near the back of the shop where all of the welders and plasma cutters are.
"Andrew, can you help me cut these horseshoes in half and cut the rebar?" Fawn asked. No matter how many times she helped out in the shop, they never had and never would let her use the steel cutter. They said that it was 'too dangerous' and that they don't want her to get hurt. Fawn would try to argue with them, but she knew that she would end up on the losing end.
"No problem, little sis." Andrew ruffled her long curly hair.
After Andrew had finished cutting the pieces she needed, Fawn gathered them together and set out on welding them.
XXX
When mom got home, Fawn helped her prepare dinner, since it was Friday night. Their usual family dinner was when they ate together, sitting down and watching the report together. It was a tradition that had started when her brothers were little and still happened to this day, even though one of them was married and the other had a girlfriend.
XXX
After the report, her phone lit up. It was Autumn. Autumn and Fawn met their first year of College and had been friends ever since, even though Autumn lived three hours away in Sota. They tried to spend time with each other at least once every summer. It was no wonder that Autumn would want to talk about the prince's selection.
"Hey, Bambi, did you watch the report?" Fawn smiled at her old nickname.
"Yeah, I did. Can you believe that the prince is having a selection?"
"What girl would want to be in his selection?"
"I know I wouldn't. Even if it is a once in a lifetime chance."
"Then we both should enter. It's unlikely that we will be picked anyway and it will get my little sister off of my back. You know that she has a huge crush on him, don't you?"
"Really, Haylee has a crush on him? I bet she wishes that she was old enough to enter."
"Yeah, she's sad. So what do you say?"
"Fine. I'll enter only because you're entering too." What are the chances that they would be picked?
(This chapter was written by La Rosa, Tis I, The most frenchiest fry, and thecruelpringle)
A/N: hey guys! So we had this idea a week or two ago to have a selection where we would submit characters that were basically us (or as close to us as we wanted to get). We wanted to try and break a lot of the "stereotypes" in selection stories (that we ourselves are guilty of using) and make a story that is truly a collaboration between the authors. The form will be up in our profile (no need to be in the discord chat) ASAP... (we are masters of procrastination). link to the chat in the profile's bio. I think that's all :)
~thecruelpringle